Recently, Nintendo celebrated the 20th anniversary of the NES arrival in North America. I found the GameSpot coverage mostly unremarkable (read: nerd wet dreams), but the Duck Hunt conversation hit home last weekend.
My mom’s off in Europe, visiting my brother at school, and taking a much needed break from teaching. Meanwhile, my Dad is left at home working. I know the peace and quiet drives him nuts, so I dropped by to cook steaks and show off my intelligence.
Our after-dinner discussion included the finer points of the other brother’s video system collection, how much wrath I’d incur from borrowing his GameCube and whether or not everything bad was indeed good for you. Conversation then turned to the NES, the lightgun and Duck Hunt — one of the few video games that he has actually played. His comment:
You could never shoot that stupid dog.
I’m probably paraphrasing a bit, but you get the idea. Of course, the internet allows you to satisfy your bloodlust and kill the dog. Maybe the whole Nintendogs craze is just an attempt to even out the company’s canine karma and cultivate some love for man’s best friend.
What’s the point? Even my dad hates the dog in Duck Hunt. That says something.